Ubuntu resolution problem, can you help?

[kurse]

A little Intro for the distro
I recently wanted to get into the Linux side and see what all the fuss is about. After what I have been reading about it, it was kind of too good to be true. I did some research and the one that caught my eye was Ubuntu linux. I fell in love with the screen shots and after I saw what you can do with Beryl and Compiz and all those other programs I thought "wow".

The specs
Anyways I have a Pentium 4 processor 524 w/Hyper-threading technology, 3.06GHZ, 533MHz FSB (front side bus), 1MB L2 Cache, 160GB Hard drive, 512MB DDR SDRAM, DVD+/-R Multi Format Double Layer Drive, ATI RADEON Xpress 200

Get to the point, whats the problem?
I downloaded the ubuntu 6.06 (dapper drake) desktop x86 .iso & also downloaded ubuntu 6.10 (edgy) desktop x86.iso and burned them both on dvd. Now I booted with (dapper drake) first and it would only display in 640x480 resolution. Don't worry I already tried going to System>Preferences>Screen Resolution. Theres only 640x480 I tried clicking, scrolling, hot keying, everything. Then I booted with 6.10(edgy) and it actually gave me two options: 800x600 and 640x480. So....? It's still not enough I want my 1024x768 resolution that I have on Windows XP MCE already installed on the hard drive I want to install Ubuntu on. So how can I fix this problem? Please help. Thanks in advance

[4play]

try having a play about with the /etc/x11/xorg.conf file. you might be able to set it manually.

[kurse]

how in sam hell do i do that?

[4play]

try

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xorg-xserver

then when you are done press alt + ctrl + backspace to restart the x server and hopefully have the correct screen resolution.

the xorg.conf file is a simple text file that has all the settings for x so open it in your favourite editor as root and have a play. this might help you work out exactly how to edit what you want.

if you screw it up and you dont get a nice gui when you boot again just go back and edit the file again until it does.

[raspberry1331]

on the live CD there is only a generic video driver. install ubuntu on the HD, then install a proper video driver, and you will get all your resolutions your video card is capable of.

other than that, you can edit the xorg.conf file, but im not sure if this is possible without installing the OS.